Leave Out All the Rest

I appreciate Linkin Park. Hybrid Theory was my first album. Beginning to end, if not “In the End,” it’s astounding. LP is one of those bands that struggles to make a bad song, even if it’s not your favorite. This may call for an extended list. I should just rank their songs instead of picking my favorites. I’m happy to keep with days in the month. I almost gave in, but found an out. If I just mention leftovers as being honorary, I can stay at 31. It’s almost like having a longer list.Linkin Park has tens of millions of fans in the world. It doesn’t need to be defended. I’m going on offense, then, if not the offensive. LP is very popular, but has detractors. Like any artist, there are millions who don’t like or never heard of them. Then again, I probably like them a million times more than some of those people. If you don’t like the sound, you probably don’t think Linkin Park should be in any top 30, let alone their own.You may not like a particular single, but maybe together they’ll combine into something you do like. That’s what I’m getting at. Linkin Park has many virtues. On the one hand, if you aren’t especially moved by rap, the other half of any song is nu metal. And if you aren’t into ‘metal,’ you’ve always got rap. It’s also fun to sing along. When I was about 13, I used to Mad Lib Linkin Park with a friend. One of us would be Chester while the other was Mike.We sang along to the lyrics we were making up. Chester is hard to replicate because he is one of the few singers who can shout in key. Anyway, I bring up Linkin Park because I think they can get a bad rap. In high school, I finished a class.One way to pass time and other things is eating. My plan was a sandwich. I walked through a common room holding my laptop. Students were lounging. Among them was a girl I had a crush on. It may have been mutual, but, in some ways, it’s easier if not. In the words of my colleague, Chilly: “Much ado about nothing is peanuts if you make nothing of much.” It’s easier to get over something that doesn’t exist.She finished telling classmates about a guy who said he had good taste in music. The girl had asked to see his library and it was entirely full of My Chemical Romance and Linkin Park. I walked by and she inquired whether she could check mine. “Sure,” I said. Obviously, the top 25 were Linkin Park and MCR. Needless to say, it didn’t work out. That said, if I’m flirting with someone and she asks me, “What are your favorite 30 Linkin Park songs in order?” I’ll be ready.

(Honorable mention) “Session”

(Honorable mention) “Blackbirds”

(Honorable mention) “Guilty All the Same”

31. “Robot Boy”

30. “Breaking the Habit”

29. “Shadow of the Day”

28. “Until It’s Gone”

27. “CASTLE OF GLASS”

26. “From the Inside”

25. “With You”

24. “Bleed It Out”

23. “LOST IN THE ECHO”

22. “BURN IT DOWN”

21. “Lying From You”

20. “The Catalyst”

19. “Crawling”

18. “In Pieces”

17. “Numb”

16. “One Step Closer”

15. “New Divide”

14. “What I’ve Done”

13. “In the End”

12. “Easier to Run”

11. “Points of Authority”

10. “Waiting for the End”

9. “Final Masquerade”

8. “Leave Out All the Rest”

7. “Iridescent”

6. “Faint”

5. “I’LL BE GONE”

4. “POWERLESS”

3. “LIES GREED MISERY”

2. “Papercut”

1. “Somewhere I Belong”

I think you can see how loving this music might evolve. Power chord distortion sort of evokes heavy synthesizers. They even have a DJ in Joe Hahn.

As a bonus, here are my favorite songs by Fort Minor, Mike Shinoda’s hip-hop oriented side project. They should, if not should have another album out before long:

4. “Believe Me”

3. “Remember the Name”

2. “Where’d You Go”

1. “Red to Black”

And it’s worth noting the collaboration among The X-Ecutioners, Static-X, Mike Shinoda, and Mr. Hahn: